


Warp and Weft

by DoctorTrekLock



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Fiber Arts, Genderbending, Weaving, always a girl!Cas, always a girl!Dean, always a girl!Sam - Freeform, brief light homophobia, hashtag-feminisim, homophobia mention, in which no dudes make an appearance, spinner!Cas, spinner!Sam, spinning, weaver!Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 23:44:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10864605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorTrekLock/pseuds/DoctorTrekLock
Summary: “Too much twist was always Castiel’s problem,” Naomi offered cryptically.  “Well, that and dalliances with women,” she muttered under her breath.Diana, who had had a few dalliances with women herself, chose to ignore the remark.





	Warp and Weft

**Author's Note:**

> As you may notice, I'm using Diana as the female version of Dean's name instead of Deanna. I know he's named after his grandmother, but I just like Diana better. And who better to name Dean after than the Roman goddess of the hunt?
> 
> This fic uses some spinning and weaving terminology. For a glossary and link to photos of various wheels, see the end of the fic.

Only reflex kept the carefully stacked skeins from falling out of Diana’s hands. “What?” she demanded of her sister, depositing the yarn abruptly in a nearby basket. “You’re going where, now?”

Samantha sighed. “I told you this three weeks ago,” she complained. “I’m going to school, Di.”

Diana growled, hands on her hips. “I thought that fell through when you broke up with Bradi. How am I supposed to keep this shop in business?” She gestured wildly with her hands. “You’re half the store! It’s Winchester Strings _and_ Things, Sammy! What am I supposed to do without a spinner?”

Samantha’s head was in her hands. She took a deep breath before running her fingers over her long hair. “I don’t know, Di.” Her tone was consciously even. “What were you planning on doing when I told you three weeks ago?”

Diana sputtered a bit at this. “Not—not let you go?” she finished weakly.

Her sister growled in frustration. “You can’t stop me, Diana! I’m going to school. This may be my only chance to get out of Lawrence. I can’t stay here forever.”

Diana’s eyes dropped to the floor at Sam’s last words. “Right.” Her voice was rough. “I’m just gonna go…check on the stock in the back.”

Samantha didn’t follow her. As soon as she was alone in the storage room, Diana let herself cry, bracing her forearms against the metal shelving and burying her face in her arms. She wept tears of frustration and anger for a few minutes, then she cried a bit at the thought that soon Sammy, her little sister, would be off in the wide world, far from Di’s protection.

When her tears had abated and her emotions had calmed, she straightened, wiped her face, readjusted her high ponytail, and took a deep breath. “Right.” Now for her more immediate problems. What was she going to do without her sister?

***

It was a week after Sammy’s departure that Diana finally broke down and started searching for another spinner. They were starting to run low on certified Winchester-made stock and the empty demonstration platform opposite hers was beginning to draw questions.

She closed the store around midday on a quiet Thursday and headed over to the church where the Lawrence Area Spinners’ Club met, advertisement clutched in her hands. She had intended to simply hang it, figuring a flyer couldn’t hurt, but when she left the building ten minutes later, flyer still in-hand, she had the contact information for one Naomi Milton, head of the LASC, courtesy of the church’s friendly administrative assistant, Hannah.

Di drove back to the store, rehearsing the upcoming conversation in her head. She parked the Impala by the two-part commercial block in downtown Lawrence where the shop was located as well as the apartment in which she now lived alone

She thought about getting out of the car and making the call from the store, but there were no other cars in the nearest ten parking spaces, so she figured she’d be fine keeping the shop closed a little longer. She dialed the number Hannah had given her.

“Naomi Milton speaking.” The woman’s voice was crisp and professional.

“Hi,” Diana winced internally at her own casual greeting, but forged ahead. “This is Diana Winchester from Winchester Strings and Things. I understand you’re the head of the Lawrence Area Spinners’ Club?”

“That is correct.” A beat. “What can I help you with, Mrs. Winchester?”

Diana made a face at the address. “It’s _Ms._ Winchester, actually. And I was hoping you could put me in touch with a spinner who might be in need of a job right now?”

A moment passed. “As it so happens, I believe Castiel was recently laid off from her job. I can give you her contact information…if you think she would be a good fit.”

Diana got the distinct impression that Naomi Milton didn’t believe Castiel would be a good fit for any job. “What makes you say that?” she asked. There had to be a reason for her dismissive tone. If this Castiel person was a thief or something, Di wanted to know that upfront.

“Too much twist was always Castiel’s problem,” Naomi offered cryptically. “Well, that and dalliances with women,” she muttered under her breath.

Diana, who had had a few dalliances with women herself, chose to ignore the remark.

“That’s alright,” Di remarked lightly instead. “All our wheels are great wheels or have Scotch tension, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

She heard a light “hmph” through the phone.

“Could I get her contact info, then?”

***

Castiel Novak appeared in the shop that afternoon in a whirl of brilliant blue eyes and tan jacket. Diana had had to check for drool when the woman had removed her coat and folded it over her arm, showing off an amazing white dress shirt and black pencil skirt combo, a deep blue tie dangling loosely from her neck.

“Hi,” Diana croaked, leaning heavily on the counter by the cash register. It seemed not to notice her desperate attempt to remain a vertical human being and not a Diana-shaped puddle on the floor of her fiber arts store.

“Hello.” _Damn_ , but that woman’s voice was deep. “Are you Diana?”

“Uh-huh,” Di said. Then she closed her eyes and tried to pull herself together. You can do it, Winchester. She opened her eyes again. Nope, still drop-dead gorgeous. “I mean, yes. I’m Diana Winchester.”

“Castiel.” They shook hands. Castiel’s were soft, with calluses on her fingers. Di stifled a whimper.

“Right. Why don’t you come upstairs and we’ll” _get horizontal on the couch_ “have a chat about the shop.”

Diana flipped the sign back to Closed and led Castiel up the stairs to the apartment she had shared with her sister. She directed the other woman to have a seat at the kitchen table, then went to grab two glasses of water. When she turned back, the sight of Castiel, sitting comfortably at her kitchen table, made her knees weak. Di sat down quickly, not sure if they would be able to support her weight much longer.

“Let’s get started,” she suggested. “How long have you been spinning?”

She found out that Cas – “I insist” – had learned how to spin in high school from her mother, who had had somewhat of an interest in old-fashioned traditions. After her mother’s death, it had been one of the few things she had had left to hang onto, she explained. Diana was sympathetic, having lost her mother – a spinner and a weaver both – five years ago.

The conversation spun out from there, each woman sharing stories of her college years (“Had to get a single because it’s hard fitting a spinning wheel and a roommate in a ten-by-twelve cell,” Diana reminisced), career (“Ad sales isn’t quite as engaging as one might imagine,” Cas deadpanned), and family (“Sammy ran off to law school, so now it’s just me here,” Di lamented). At that last comment, Di glanced at her watch, realizing that they had been sitting there talking for over three hours. By the look on her face, Castiel seemed to have just come to the same realization.

“Well,” Di summarized.

“Right.”

“I don’t suppose you’d want to see the workspace we have set up downstairs?”

“I’d love to.”

Diana led Castiel back downstairs. The sky outside the front windows was dark, and Di realized guiltily that the shop had only been open for a grand total of three hours that day. Thursdays were slow days anyway, she rationalized. It’s not like it had made a huge difference.

Di showed Cas the two demonstration platforms she and Sam had set up to the rear of the shop. Diana’s eight-heddle loom was set on one, a colorful, half-finished tartan hand towel stretched across the warp strings. Opposite sat a large wool wheel.

“It’s not much,” Di admitted. “Sam liked to have the great wheel out so she could get in some exercise. We’ve got a castle wheel in back if you’d rather use a flyer wheel.”

Cas’s nose scrunched up adorably as she bit her lip. “I might just stick to the great wheel. Sometimes I get a bit carried away with flyer wheels and add too much twist to the yarn,” she admitted, a little sheepishly.

Diana grinned. “I’d heard. This one’s got Scotch tension, though, so we can take care of that.”

“Perfect.”

They stared at each other a little longer.

“Does…” Cas hesitated. “Does this conclude the interview?”

Di laughed a little. “Sure does. Can you start tomorrow?”

“I’d love to.” She paused. “It’s getting late.”

“So it is.” Di hoped this was going where she thought it might be going.

“Nearly dinnertime.”

“Nearly.” It so was. She would have jumped with delight if she didn’t think it might scare away her newest employee.

“Would you care to get a bite to eat with me?” Castiel’s fingers were smoothing the bottom of her tie nervously, her gaze fixed decidedly on Di’s chin.

“Why, Cas,” she drawled. “Is this a date?”

Cas’s eyes slid upwards to Diana’s. “It might be,” she admitted, easily. “Would that be a problem?”

“Not at all. Let me get my coat.”

The two women left the store a moment later, the conversation picking up easily as they strolled down the sidewalk. Behind them, the storefront of Winchester Strings and Things was dark, a white and red sign on the door reading Closed.

Not bad for a Thursday afternoon.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Images:

[Castle wheel](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Harmonia_22/Warp%20and%20Weft/Castle%20wheel_zpskf61qdd6.jpg)

[Flyer wheel](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Harmonia_22/Warp%20and%20Weft/Flyer%20wheel_zps2mmojvot.png)

[Great wheel](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Harmonia_22/Warp%20and%20Weft/Great%20wheel_zpsm7gq1arb.png)

How to use a great wheel:  
[Part 1](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Harmonia_22/Warp%20and%20Weft/How%20to%20great%20wheel%201_zpsraco8kiw.jpg)  
[Part 2](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Harmonia_22/Warp%20and%20Weft/How%20to%20great%20wheel%202_zpsyo1j5afb.jpg)

[Loom](http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/Harmonia_22/Warp%20and%20Weft/Loom_zpspvishh4g.jpg)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Fiber Arts Terminology:
> 
> Castle wheel - A castle wheel is a flyer wheel where the bobbin is located directly above the wheel.
> 
> Flyer wheel - There are two distinct kinds of spinning wheels: flyer wheel and great wheels. Flyer wheels are smaller and operated while sitting. Flyer wheels have a bobbin and are designed to draw the thread in. Unlike great wheels, flyer wheels can be used without needing to stop to wind the fiber onto the bobbin. 
> 
> Great wheel - Also known as a walking wheel or a wool wheel. Great wheels are very large - the wheel itself is usually somewhere around four feet in diameter. These wheels have a single spindle (tapered metal rod) sticking out from the apparatus of the wheel at a ninety degree angle. Great wheels are operated from standing and usually require walking back and forth a few steps over and over again. Because of the way great wheels are operated, the spinner has a great deal of control over how much twist is put into the thread.
> 
> Heddles - Heddles are large horizontal frames in the center of the loom. Each heddle has a series of vertical pieces of metal that warp threads can be fed through. On a loom, the number of heddles determines how intricate of a pattern can be woven. Each heddle can be controlled independently or in series with other heddles. Each heddle controls a subset of the warp strings, lifting them to allow the shuttle holding the weft string to pass over and under certain threads.
> 
> Scotch tension - Every flyer wheel has some kind of tension control that can be tightened or loosened in order to achieve the ideal balance of twist (how quickly the fibers are twisted together) and draw (how quickly the fibers are drawn into the wheel and onto the bobbin). On flyer wheels with Scotch tension, the two tension measures are independent and controlled by two different knobs.
> 
> Skein - One unit of yarn, usually looped around in a round or oval shape.
> 
> Tartan - A plaid pattern.
> 
> Twist - When spinning, twist is a qualitative measure of how tightly the fibers are spun together. To test for the amount of twist you have, double the length of spun material back on itself. If it twists around itself nicely, you have the proper amount of twist. If it doesn't twist, you don't have enough (which can cause your fibers to slip apart when pulled on), and if it twists around itself too eagerly, you probably have too much (this puts excess tension on the spun fibers and can cause them to snap).
> 
> Warp - The warp strings on a loom are the ones that run front to back. These are laid out before the weaving process starts and are fed through the heddles in a specific order to make the pattern.
> 
> Weft - The weft strings on a loom are the ones that run side-to-side. The weft is stored on shuttles and threaded from side to side over and under various warp strings, depending on the position of the heddles.
> 
> Wool wheel - See great wheel.


End file.
